


Obvious Obliviousness

by Maiden_of_Asgard



Category: Loki - Fandom, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Avenger Loki (Marvel), Awkward Tension, Blushing Loki, F/M, Loki Is Surprisingly Bad At Flirting, POV Second Person, Reluctant Avenger Loki, Tumblr Ask Box Fic, reader is just trying to do her job
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-27
Updated: 2020-01-27
Packaged: 2021-02-27 04:55:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,969
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22441441
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Maiden_of_Asgard/pseuds/Maiden_of_Asgard
Summary: Your job shouldn't even involve Loki Laufeyson. You're only at the Tower to coordinate with Mr. Stark. Reformed supervillains aren't exactly your area of expertise. In fact, reformed supervillains - if Loki is anything to go by - are indescribably frustrating.You don't get why he's always hanging around, especially if he finds you as bothersome as he claims.
Relationships: Loki (Marvel)/Reader
Comments: 18
Kudos: 374





	Obvious Obliviousness

You drum your pen on the table, trying not to show exactly how frustrated you are. It isn’t easy. You’ve been sitting in this fancy conference room for nearly thirty minutes. If your meeting had been with anyone other than  _ the  _ Tony Stark, you would’ve already left. 

When he finally strolls in, nearly an hour late, he isn’t alone. Your eyes narrow. You should’ve known  _ he  _ would have something to do with this. 

“Sorry,” Mr. Stark says. “Experiment went a little haywire. I appreciate you hanging around—”

“This scholarship is worth a little waiting, Mr. Stark,” you say, your smile perfectly professional (and maybe a little terse). “Have you had a chance to look over the paperwork the university sent?”

“Yeah.” He sits across from you, and behind him, Loki Laufeyson lingers like some kind of shadow in the corner of the room. “Everything looks good to me. I  _ do  _ want to get to weigh in on the applicants, though. I’ve gotten some pushback on that. The whole point is to identify your non-standard little future geniuses who might not exactly fit the mold, and I don’t exactly trust an admissions office to get the full picture. No offense.”

“I don’t think that will be a problem.”

Loki is watching you, and you decide the best course of action is to stare right back at him. A smile flickers on his lips, but it’s gone just as quickly. 

Mr. Stark notices. “Ignore him,” he says. “I’m not supposed to leave him around the fancy machinery unsupervised, and he kind of enjoys the whole ‘malevolent entity’ vibe.”

“I’ve noticed.”

Loki’s eyes narrow at your tone, and his smirk becomes a bit more defined. If you weren’t a professional adult, well-versed in dealing with the wealthy and arrogant and eccentric, you might be tempted to stick your tongue out at him. You’ve never exchanged more than three words with the man, but he always manages to rankle your nerves.

“I can bring the early applicants for you to review next week, Mr. Stark,” you continue. “That will also give you the chance to reevaluate our required materials and see if there’s anything else you’d like for us to include. And once we have all of the procedures in place, we can work more on the marketing side of things.”

“Sounds great,” he says. “I appreciate all of this. If you’re ever in the market for a new job…”

“Thank you,” you tell him, your smile coming a bit more easily now. It’s always a little intimidating to be in the presence of someone as impressive as Tony Stark, and genuine praise from him is something you’ll always treasure. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

The week passes quickly. There’s a lot of red tape that you’ve been left to deal with, even though you’re really only supposed to be handling the communications between the university and Stark Industries, and you don’t get much sleep. You find yourself back in Stark Tower before you know it, and once again, all of the actual business you’re there to conduct is overshadowed by the looming presence of Loki Laufeyson.

It’s like having an unfriendly cat watching you, a look of silent judgment on its face. Mr. Stark mostly ignores him, and any time Loki  _ does _ say something, it’s critical. None of the applications are impressive enough. The font in your presentation isn’t appealing. Stark is keeping him from his lunch. It’s always something, and as the weeks go on and you find yourself at Stark Tower more and more often to discuss the details of the university partnership, Loki only becomes snarkier.

One day, he simply remarks that you’re ‘terribly short,’ and you forget decorum and roll your eyes. “And you look like you belong at a Renaissance fair,” you retort, “but do you see me complaining about it? No.”

He seems surprised, and Mr. Stark coughs to cover his laugh.

If anything, after that, he only gets more annoying, and you’re frustrated that he seems to be a fixture at  _ every single one _ of these meetings. At least he’s pretty to look at, and he’s got an undeniably sexy voice… not that you’d admit that to anyone, ever. You wonder why he hasn’t figured out a way to avoid these meetings, since he always radiates frustration and annoyance when you’re around. 

You’re in a particularly antsy mood when you head over to meet with Mr. Stark late one Friday afternoon, because you’ve got a dinner date with a very gangly, sweet guy named Matt who loves talking about his job and is kind of a space buff. It’s the first time you’ve ever gone on a second date with anyone you’ve met online, and while you didn’t feel an immediate spark when you met him for coffee… he’s fun to talk to, and you figure it couldn’t hurt to give things another go.

Usually, you try to dress in fairly comfortable, professional clothes, but you’ve jazzed things up a little today since you doubt you’ll have time to swing by your apartment before your date. You sigh and drop your bag onto the conference table when you walk in the room, because Loki’s already there, and he’s  _ already _ got an aloof, haughty expression on his face. When he’s bored, he’s always the most critical, even when you aren’t asking for his opinion on anything.

He’s weirdly quiet, though and when Mr. Stark leaves to take a call from his wife, you and Loki sit in a tense, uncertain silence. You decide to ignore him and reapply your lipgloss, using your shiny steel coffee thermos as a makeshift mirror. You’re already going to be late; you don’t want to look like you didn’t put in any effort, too. 

“You look different today,” he finally observes. 

“I have a date after this,” you tell him. “I  _ do _ have a life outside of work.”

“A date?”

“Yes, a date.” You shove your lipgloss back into your purse, your cheeks warm. You don’t understand why you’re flustered. You’re a grown woman, and it’s perfectly reasonable for you to have a date for Friday night. “You know, you go out and—”

“I am familiar with the concept. I did not know that you had a suitor.”

You wave your phone. “Miracles of modern dating, suitors are only a swipe away.”

“What?”

“Dating apps. You match up with people and pray that you find someone semi-normal, and then if they don’t ghost you, you eventually try to meet in person for a real date.”

“So this is someone you’ve never met, then?”

“No,” you reply. “I’ve met him once, just for coffee. We’re going to dinner and an improv show tonight, since he didn’t give off serial killer vibes.”

Loki frowns. “That seems like a very low bar.”

“Online dating will do that. Anyway, he genuinely seems like a nice guy.” You don’t know why you’re telling him this, nor do you understand why he’s apparently so interested, but you figure you might as well avoid more awkward silence until Mr. Stark gets back. “It’s fun to have an excuse to get dressed up and go out, too. Everyone’s been telling me I need to put myself out there.”

“I disagree.”

“You disagree with everything—”

“You should not settle for men who are sub-optimal.”

“Excuse me?” you cry. “I don’t see how that’s any of your business.”

“It isn’t,” he says, and his nostrils flare slightly, clueing you in on some of his thinly-veiled frustration. He leans back in his chair, crossing his arms. “I could take you, instead.”

You cross your arms, too. “Well, as  _ generous _ as that is, Your Highness—”

“I would  _ like _ to take you,” Loki amends. “On this date of yours, I mean.”

“What?”

Loki clears his throat. It might be a trick of the light, but his cheeks look a little flushed. “I would like to request the  _ pleasure _ of your company,” he says stiffly, “on a romantic outing.”

“Why?”

The pen in his hand snaps in half. You’ve never considered the possibility that ancient deities could get bashful and embarrassed, but that’s apparently the case. “You are clever and very pretty,” he says, glaring at you like he resents having to say it aloud,  _ “obviously.” _

You aren’t sure whether you should be flattered, or outraged that he assumes this is all somehow so  _ obvious. _ “I can’t just cancel a date because you decided to bring a little chaos-god energy to my evening, Loki. Are you screwing with me, or something?”

He drops the ruined pen on the tabletop. “No.”

“Are you… are you  _ jealous?” _ you ask, incredulous.

“Perhaps,” he says, very clearly sulking. “Some oaf from the internet does not deserve your time.”

Your incredulity increases exponentially. “You know absolutely nothing about me.”

“I know that I like you, mortal, and I would like to know more about you. That is what these ‘dates’ are for, isn’t it?”

Poor Matt is probably already waiting at the restaurant; you can’t just leave him hanging, no matter how intrigued you are by this sudden turn of events. “I don’t…”

“That is fine,” Loki says, the color in his cheeks rising. “I understand.” He stands, seems almost ready to half-bow to you out of some sort of long-suppressed courtly instinct, and then catches himself. “If you’ll excuse me.”

“Hey,” Mr. Stark says, sticking his head in the door, “where do you think you’re going, Frostbite? We’ve got more work to do once we wrap this up.”

Loki brushes past him. “I am going to get some tea.”

Mr. Stark watches him leave, then looks back to you, his expression calculating. “What did you do to get him so flustered? I’m impressed.”

“I don’t really know,” you reply. 

“Interesting. Anyway, here are those papers, signed and dated. I don’t really see why I had to do physical copies—”

“I appreciate it, Mr. Stark.” You probably shouldn’t interrupt him, but you’re in a hurry, and you don’t think he minds, though he does give you an odd look when you snatch the papers from his hand and shove them into your bag. “Um, I’m late for something, so if that’s all for today, I’m just going to run.”

You practically sprint down the hallway, cursing your decision to wear heels today, and you manage to catch up with Loki right as he’s stepping on the elevator. “Wait!” you huff, throwing yourself through the doors just before they slide shut.

His eyebrow arches elegantly. You’re so used to being seated when he’s around that his height takes you by surprise. “Is something the matter?” he asks.

“Look, you didn’t have to run away—”

Loki taps a button on the control panel, and the elevator jerks to a halt. He leans closer. “I didn’t  _ run away.” _

“I’d like to go out with you sometime,” you tell him. “If you were being serious back there, I mean. I think it could be… interesting. Tomorrow, maybe? We could do coffee.”

He silently studies you. “Why?”

You shrug. “Well, if we’re being blunt, you  _ are _ kind of super hot. I’m kind of curious to see what’s underneath all of this  _ ‘I am a god, lowly mortal’ _ posturing.” You gesture at the armor that he insists on wearing, even though you’re positive he’s got a closet full of normal Earth-clothes. “Who knows? Maybe there’s a sweet side to Loki Laufeyson.”

“And if there isn’t?”

“I guess we’ll just have to wait and see, won’t we?”

He pushes the button again, and the elevator resumes its descent. “Tomorrow, then,” he says. “I… I will look forward to it. And I hope that your evening is pleasant. Only  _ moderately _ pleasant, however.”

“Right.” You’re suppressing a smile when you step off of the elevator. “See you tomorrow, Loki.”

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt: "Oooo, may I do one?? How about a quick fic where Loki and reader are tense acquaintances and he has to confess his feelings"


End file.
